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The global construction boom, which has pushed the sector’s carbon dioxide emissions to an all-time high of 10 gigatonnes, is now “off track” to achieve a detachment by 2050, a senior UNEP official said. carbon pledge.
“Years of warnings about the impacts of climate change have become reality,” said Inger Anderson, executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme. “If we don’t cut emissions quickly under the Paris Agreement, we’ll be in deeper trouble,” he noted.
According to a report by the United Nations agency, the sector will account for more than 34% of global energy demand in 2021 and around 37% of “energy and process-related” CO2 emissions.
Data collated for the UNEP publication ahead of the COP27 climate talks in Egypt also found that carbon dioxide emissions in 2021 were 5% higher than in 2020 and 2% higher than the pre-pandemic peak in 2019.
Although investment in energy-efficient new buildings rose 16 percent to $237 billion, the UNEP explained that this was only “outpaced” by the growing floor area being built.
In 2021, demand for heating, cooling, lighting and equipment in buildings will be around 4% higher than in 2020 and 3% higher than in 2019, UNEP said, suggesting a link between the sector’s climate performance and the need to decarbonize by 2050. The gap is widening.
From a regional perspective, UNEP notes that Africa’s primary resource use will double by 2060, with “an estimated 70%” of buildings still planned by 2040.
This is in line with estimates that Africa’s population will reach 2.4 billion by 2050, 80 percent of whom will live in cities, which is why the continent can use its renewable energy sources to provide sustainable energy for its buildings, the United Nations Environment Program said.
“Steel, concrete and cement are already major sources of greenhouse gas emissions,” Anderson said, citing figures, adding that construction materials already account for about 9 percent of the continent’s energy-derived carbon dioxide emissions.
In Europe, UNEP officials say the buildings sector accounts for 40 percent of Europe’s total energy demand, 80 percent of which comes from fossil fuels.
“This makes the sector an area for immediate action, investment and policies that promote short- and long-term energy security,” Anderson said.
To reduce overall emissions, UNEP says the building industry can help by: Improving the energy performance of buildings and reducing the carbon footprint of building materials.
The main global trends identified by the United Nations Environment Program show that the growth in floor space between 2015 and 2021 is equivalent to the total land area covered by buildings in Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands. –trade arab news agency
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